Tyrell Summer Mace it! 9th in Stahleck, 3rd after swiss.

Versions

This is the deck I took to Stahleck joust. As soon as I saw The Hightower and Mace Tyrell spoiled I decided that's the deck I'm going to play when the Tyrell box comes out. When it was looking like the box will be legal in Stahleck I started testing. The first versions were more control orientated with Begging Brothers, Forgotten Plans and The Iron Bank Will Have Its Due. I wanted to control the game until I had Mace out with Hightower. However that deck had too many weaknesses since it lacked various win conditions. With help of my meta mates Tupaq, Ismo and Joni I started tuning it into the version I have here.

I did miss strength buffs and especially Growing Strong in some match-ups but could not decide what to cut. Maybe Bodyguards but I would have needed saves in couple of games I lost (as well as strength buffs).

Next round I was made first again, marshaled some more stuff and Nightmared The Arbor to keep up the pressure. My board and power gain was going pretty fast so Achab was forced to make sub-optimal Valar and after that I just pressed with my advantage and won. Unlucky game for Achab.

I was able to make a small comeback and had Margaery Tyrell (AMAF) to setup my own Valar. Isian answered with Varys and used him leaving him Balon Greyjoy (CtA) with 5 or 6 power and me with Margaery Tyrell (AMAF). I had a The Hand's Judgment and Isian only had 3 cards so I felt comfortable Valarin. Isian used Risen from the Sea which I cancelled but Isian had another. I almost scooped immediately but said let's look top deck. I'm sorry I was bit confusing here and maybe that messed Isians thinking too. I didn't top deck anything great but realized I had a Renly dupe in hand and he didn't die but got Varysed. I also used Pleasure Barge I think. So I marshaled him to make Balon kneel and something else. This turn was really a blur and I'm sorry I forgot to discard to reserve. I have to see the recording if I broke the rules more or did something stupid. I had two dupes of stolen Redwyne Straits in hand and two dupes of dead Ser Robar Royce so I had stuff I could easily discard and Isian didn't have intrigue presence so extra cards didn't play a role.

Somehow I fought back in this game and I think I won 15-14 in the end. Really tight match I have to watch again because I really don't remember what happened in the end.

7th round of swiss, Marti Tyrell Rains 7-0

This was another great game and unfortunaly it wasn't recorded. Marti started stronger but I was able to get the The Hightower to out draw him even he had couple of Barges. We went back and forth with challenges, resets and everything. I accidentally made one challenge turn before end with Randyll able to stand and defend my challenge and Marti got to 14 power against my 13. Last turn I was able to win initiative because my mistake because we both played Weapons at the Door. I secured the win with unopposed intrigue challenge by Renly Baratheon (FFH) and Margaery Tyrell (AMAF). A great game but unfortunately I don't remember the details and it wasn't recorded.

So we headed back to castle, I got some rest and then I was ready for top 32. Björn had had a qualification match in between so might have been a little fresher. Though I played in melee final table until 2 AM the night before :D Björn played a cool version of Lanni Rains with Brothel Madames, Supporting the Faith, Paid Off, The Spider's Web etc. I had a decent setup but a bad redraw and really bad couple first round draws and bad Pleasure Barge (and the second one got Treachery). Two Supporting the Faith kept me away from tricks first two turn but I was able to power from Ser Robar Royce and power challenges. I needed to go through the Brothel Madame and Paid Off interaction with the judges since it's been a year since I last played against this kind of deck.

Björn spend two first turns emptying my hand full of crap and got Ser Ilyn Payne probably turn two and started hacking my chuds. I was pretty alright with this since that kept his sole power icon knelt until Tywin Lannister (Core) entered the board. However he was able to hack down my Ser Robar Royce with a dupe and 3 or 4 power. This shows the strength of Ser Robar Royce. People have to pay attention to a three coster when he starts collecting power.

Last turn I played Wardens of the South trying to win some challenges with a smaller board. I decided to Flea BottomSer Colen of Greenpools as a first action in case of Nightmares and made a power challenge with Renly and him that guaranteed victory even with Widow's Wail. I won that power and got a renown for Renly and passed challenges to Björn leading by probably 5 power. He did int challenge with Brothel Madame and Ser Lancel Lannister. I went through every possibility whether to block it or not and if he had Widow's Wail or not and what Rains plots he might still have. Finally decided to block with Oldtown Informer with +2 str from plot and Björn said I win. I was confused but completely missed that Ser Lancel Lannister was now str 0 after Tywin was marshaled (Jaime was already on board). I defended the rest of the challenges with my best ability and won by 1 power.

After the game my team mate Antti V said Björn is a really strong player and always on top and showed huge respect to him. He just didn't want to tell it to me before the game so I don't get extra pressure.

Top 16, Chris Schoental Lanni Crossing, a loss

I drew bunch of chuds but the last card of my starting hand was The Hightower so I kept my hand and setup econ, The Hightower and Renly's Pavilion. Chris setup Tywin and a Kingsroad. After Chris's first turn marshaling he had Shae, Tywin, Cersei Lannister (LoCR) duped and Ser Jaime Lannister (Core) duped. I was fucked since I din't have any dupes and couldn't Valar Tywin of the board. I tried to attack Chris's hand with little succes. I also made a bunch of mistakes like forgetting the minus 1 from his first challenge. I just couldn't slow him down enough and got steamrolled. Well played Chris but not a good game since I wasn't able to put up a decent fight.

Anyway I was really happy about my performance even thought the last game was a bitter end to another great day. Before tournament I was hoping to get to top 16 in melee or top 32 in joust to get a playmat but everything exceeded my wildest dreams. I know I'm not a bad player but there are so many good players in Stahleck. The meta suited me fine since I've played Tyrell since the core set and Tyrell is now strong. I already played Tyrell Summer year ago before Valar game out. That deck utilized The Arbor, Bitterbridge Encampment and Varys and fit my play style really well. There's something similar with Mace decks. Oh, and I have barely mentioned Mace. Well he closed many games for me quickly but the groundwork was done by The Hightower. I think only in first 3 games I got Mace and Hightower early and won fast. This shows that the deck can win consistently even without Mace. Without The Hightower it's harder but the deck is still pretty normal Tyrell deck without them. Missing only the strength buffs and Rains toolbox.

Thank you for everyone I played. Great people and great players. And congratulations to Marti for the win! And my team mate Henri for the second place!

@Lannister Valar was good. I think in many matches I didn't use it and in some it won me the game. Wildfire wouldn't do enough for me. If I was collecting a lot of passive power I would probably win before my Valar turn. When this decks starts to collect power it only takes couple of turns to win.

@LannisterThe worst games for me were the ones where opponent had many big guys duped so Wildfire wouldn't done anything. These were the games against Ryan, Isian, Even and Chris. Lost two, won two. Maybe Varys or two might have helped but Wildfire would definitely be a wrong choice.

Hi Johannes. I've been experimenting with passive power and adding oldtown to it. It is bollocks. The answer about resets which is working very well to me is Varys x1 + Valar Dohaeris. As long as I can keep Mace and Robar royce intact, I dont care about the rest. 7+3=10. Give it a try :)
Thanks for the advices

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